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Opening Day is great. And you don't need me to tell you that. Others will do that (two guys I really admire and have written great books on the local nine -- Kostya Kennedy and Joe Posnanski did on Monday), but to me, I prefer the second game.

Now, the Reds have done a fantastic job marketing this as "Opening Night" and that's worked for the fans. The second game attendance totals have skyrocketed since they started doing this. It's great for fans and a more affordable alternative to Opening Day.

But in my work space, it's really Game 1 of the regular season. Opening Day has scheduled press conferences, less availability than we're used to, more parking issues and the general annoyances of day games. Today is a regular day of work. It's like how the first day of school wasn't a real school day, it was more of an event. This is the same way.

We also start to increase the sample size. One game tells you very little, two games tell you a little more, three... For all the excitement of Opening Day, it comes down to the fact that it's 0.6 percent of the season. One game just doesn't mean that much. It counts the same as a game in late July or at the end of September. You want to win it, because you want to win every game, but plenty of teams have lost on Opening Day and still gone on to win the World Series.

So, welcome to the real Opening Day and let's get the season started -- for real.

• While I'm complaining, man, do I really dislike April Fool's Day. It's amazing how many unfunny and unclever people are out there. I'm both of those things, but at least I'm smart enough not to try some stupid April Fool's joke.

Double-A Pensacola -- open Thursday at home against Tennessee (with Mat Latos taking the mound)

High A Bakersfield -- open Thursday at home against Modesto

Low A Dayton -- open Thursday at home against West Michigan

LINKS

• Ryan Braun says he'll be fueled by your boos. What else is he going to say? I guess that's better than saying he's going to be fueled by illegal substances. [Chicago Tribune]

• Vin Scully can't watched the Dodgers at home when they're on the road. The Dodgers games are on SportsNet L.A. -- a channel we get here (minus the Dodgers games, I believe), that's only for Time Warner Cable customers. Scully has DirecTV. This fight is getting ugly (and we're seeing a miniature version of it in Columbus with the Crew.) [L.A. Daily News]

• Bring back the brown! There was a petition for the Padres to bring back the brown, and it was delivered to the team's chief marketing officer on Monday, and he promptly tweeted it out. Nice job -- and even nicer if they bring back the brown.

• This Baseball Passport site looks pretty cool. My first game was at Royals Stadium in 1981, but I'm not sure exactly what date it was. I think it was against either the Mariners or Blue Jays, but I was 5, so I hardly remember. I should do it for my daughter -- her first game was Jay Bruce Bobblehead night two years ago. She has her first game certificate, a bobblehead and zero memories. [Sports On Earth]